Fountain Hills board discusses revisions to extracurricular eligibility policy and selects ASBA priorities for 2023

At its meeting the Fountain Hills Unified School board discussed proposed revisions to policy JJJA on extracurricular eligibility and selected the district’s top priorities to submit to the Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) for 2023.

On policy JJJA, staff (with athletic director Evelyn Wynne available for questions) described changes meant to clarify ineligibility processes, warning weeks, mandatory tutoring and reteach opportunities for athletes, and procedures when school schedules change. Board members praised the warning-week provisions and emphasized that waivers and tutoring should keep students connected to teams and activities while addressing academics.

Separately, trustees reviewed ASBA’s suggested priority list and, after discussion, selected seven items to forward: revise the school finance formula, fully fund full-day kindergarten, restore ninth-grade CTE/CTED eligibility, establish financial and academic transparency for all institutions receiving public funds, eliminate unfunded mandates and administrative burdens, allow greater local flexibility in the divestiture or use of taxpayer-funded assets, and change override-budget language to better reflect voter intent. The board asked Krista to send the compiled list and supporting rationale to Judy, who will submit the district’s formal priorities to ASBA.

Next steps: policy JJJA revisions are expected to return as an action item for formal approval at a subsequent board meeting; the ASBA priorities will be finalized and submitted by district staff.